More

6-Year-Old Boy’s Hand Trapped In Mall Escalator

Paramedics work to free a boy's hand after it was caught in a mall escalator. (credit: Mark Brady/Pr. George's County Fire Dept.)

UPDATED: April 18, 2014 1:08 p.m.

TEMPLE HILLS, Md. (WNEW/AP) — Paramedics worked for more than two hours to free the hand of a 6-year-old boy after it became entangled in an escalator at Iverson Mall on Thursday night.

The boy’s hands and fingers became trapped under the handrail at the bottom of the moving staircase inside the Burlington Coat Factory store around 8:40 p.m., Prince George’s County Fire Department spokesperson Mark Brady says. Rescuers cut the escalator apart and had to remove parts of a wall to gain access to the entire escalator.

At least one parent was with the child throughout the ordeal.

The boy was given pain medication as paramedics continued the “challenging and tedious” extrication, Brady says.

Medical staff at Children’s National Medical Center were kept abreast of the situation throughout the ordeal.

The extent of the boy’s injuries was not immediately known, but he was taken to the hospital immediately after being freed and was discharged Friday afternoon.

(TM and Copyright 2014 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2014 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)